Although I'm not a comic-book fan, and certainly
not an "X-Men" fan in particular, I found the "X-Men" movie
to be entertaining. "X-Men" devotees probably already know the
characters: Mutants with strange powers. (The film takes place
"sometime in the not-too-distant-future", whatever that's supposed
to mean.)
The main characters are Rogue (Anna Paquin),
a girl who can suck the life out of someone just by touching
him; Wolverine, a guy whose powers should be pretty clear (hint:
he has retractable claws); and Storm (Halle Berry) who also
explains her name - she creates storms. Patrick Stewart plays
the head of a school for mutants. Of course, those are just
the good guys. The bad guys are mutants who plan to start a
war with mere mortals. The good guys want everything to be nice
and peaceful. Guess which side wins?
"X-Men"'s producers did one thing very well:
They made a movie that "X-Men" fans and non-fans alike could
both enjoy. Often, movies based on a popular series - such as
a TV show or comic books- cater only to those who are already
devoted fans. Remember "X-Files"? If you weren't a fan of the
show, the movie wasn't worth seeing. Fortunately, "X-Men" didn't
fall into that trap. "X-Men" isn't realistic or down-to-earth;
nor is the plot surprising. The special effects are impressive
though. To be honest, I found a lot wrong with this film, but
I still liked it. I prefer to judge movies on whether I actually
enjoyed them rather than how much I found to criticize, so I
have to say that overall, "X-Men" is an entertaining movie.
Rating: PG-13 (for science fiction violent content)
